[ in the case of fight or flight, keith will always choose fight. even if it means sustaining any and all kinds of injuries. it's fine. he's full of spite and rage. even as the faces worm their way around it's body, some of people he's met aboard the eudora and others of loved ones back home... his face scrunches. they're not real. they're not real. they're not real.
kosmo is moving, blipping, phasing around the room. keith is so thankful for him, as always. saving them all from near death, getting them back together. he moves closer to shoma, before they blip away with charles in tow. it's time to get tf out of here.
the earth is moving, mother earth has had enough of this shit. she's hurt. he feels terribly for her... the earth feels. she speaks. why does that sound so familiar... hm.
as they rise he leans against kosmo, on the otherside of where shoma clings. eyes looking over to the other three. god they've been through it. good hand holding his acid burned, limp, arm and fuzzy eye looking upward. ]
[ the earth must purge what's been done to her - and while maybe if the earth were anything else but what she is, she would thank you. but instead, she can only act in the way wild animals act in the face of desecration - violently.
you are all being taken upwards in a geyser of moldering earth and flesh. there's no more fighting to be done as the earth fills the plant, as it surges looking for an opening for purchase. you rise up from the hole, can vaguely see the shapes of the slaughterhouse room before it all. no one is here but the beast's lurid corpse now being absorbed by the earth itself. rushing. rushing. rushing.
you're about to hit the concrete door, about to be crushed by thousands of pounds of force—
and then there's the sensation of being plucked out of space and thrown into soft grass. kosmo hunches on the ground because he's absolutely exhausted as you all are blipped one last time out onto the dry grasses, drooling and panting hard. he still leans in to keep shoma steady, doesn't dare shake him off. io just keeps hold of temenos and takes the brunt of the landing, though his metal leg does finally splinter further with the weight of having to be landed upon, he buckles off kilter a little. charles and keith, tanks that they are, but battered, bruised, beaten up, bleeding - spat out from the blip to take their own crash landing.
it's imperfect. but it's a save. it's a... success... maybe. (maybe not.)
the plant behind you creaks with the sound of the earth pressing against the stone, pushing outwards in its own tomb of concrete. it groans, moans (with a thousand voices.)
the ship in the distance glows with its soft standby mode.
that's really all he's got. just sort of a pathetic noise when they hit the ground or... he hits into io... thanks for taking the brunt of that one sweet io you are truly a lifesaver today. io and keith are the mvps. temenos grunts in pain at the impact, rattling the gory remains of his thigh, and very nearly passes out again.
he blinks open his eyes after a long moment with them closed to recalibrate himself, and once it feels like he's not going to pass back out again, sweeps a look out across the others, exhaling slowly through his teeth. at kosmo who is also a blipping lifesaver.... telepaths to him that he is a good boy
jesus fantasy christ. temenos pats io's chest with one weak hand. thanks man. ]
That...doesn't sound promising. [ all the grumbling and groaning ]
[hits the grass... he just lies there for a moment. this bone is probably still sticking out of him and this crash landing is not helping with it. ow. anyway, after a moment, he pushes himself up with his good hand and checks that his weapons are still on him and sheathed.]
... Well, we all up to run for the ship? This would be a terrible time for someone to accidentally turn me into a sheep again.
[he will help whoever needs it because out of this group it might only be him, keith, and kosmo who are (... relatively...) unimpeded? TEMENOS AND IO'S LEGS. SHOMA'S [GESTURES]]
[ similarly to kosmo, shoma is also kind of panting and trying not to drool, lungs still burning and throat bobbing to keep from gagging into the baby's fur. he's busy clinging to kosmo and keeping himself still, turned so he's not actively bleeding onto him. his suit's in tatters, the acid wearing away most of it and burning his everything. the arm that isn't holding kosmo is completely blistered and raw and there's blood and burns and a general mess in the vicinity of his left eye as his chest oozes slowly.
but. they're alive? they're alive, and he's taking a few deep breaths to try and prepare himself for at least getting back to the ship. ]
Not the sheep. [ it's a protesting whine because in spite of everything he'd be so pissed. ] We're sure we did it...?
[ yeah he's with temenos on this one, the grumbling and groaning sounds bad. ]
[ oofa doofa. he hits the ground much harder than he would have liked, but after all the shit they went through, physically and mentally? combined with all the weird status effects they were put under?? that tracks. ]
Good riddance... [ goodbye cursed meat prison. even if the thousands of voices are hateful. he's just going to choose to ignore that. let mother earth do her thing. ]
I think she'll take care of the rest. Let's get the hell out of here.
[ getting to his feet, slowly, but surely. at least he can still walk, even with the acid damage. he looks to io, who's leg just fucking splinters, tem who is whole ass missing a leg, and shoma who is just doing bad:tm: all around. kosmo is 100000% carrying the baby back to the ship. charles and himself really are doing the best, some how??? charles your bone... ]
— MISSION COMPLETE (bidding farewell to a terminal patient)
[ there's a long moment where io glances over his shoulder at the plant, and then he turns and begins to limp towards the ship. ]
Gut feeling.
[ a breath. ]
Come on... [ a very tired, crooked smile. ] Everyone's waiting.
[ the penal colony located on the tiny planet of khalka is... empty now, a town of ghosts united by the puppeteering appendages of the hydra. each one sung a song to soothe the shaking meat, each person as much of a prisoner of the town as they are a prisoner of their own minds, caged in bliss. with one last reading sweep of the area as the shuttle primes for take-off, those still conscious enough can see... the strange energy signature is gone, and the storm is quickly receding. it's time to get the hell out of dodge.
you leave on your shuttle, and it lifts off with a cloud of black motes. as it travels through the atmosphere, if you're conscious, you can see them burning up, burning, cleansing fire, burning... up up and away.
🌾 in being puked up by the earth, your heal guns, plasma blades, and plasma pistols are broken, they are moist and wet and crammed with bloody-earthy gunk. there will be no fixing them.
🌾 from time to time (as you find appropriate for your threads) in reflective surfaces, you may catch yourself reflected back, whispering your truest thoughts about yourself, your regrets, your open wounds clawed wide. only you will be able to see or hear them. sometimes they will recite words that you yourself have said, as though rereading them from a script book, practicing their... lines? this lasts until just before trial.
🌾 you are all super gross. covered in however much blood, guts, offal, and... other stuff. for any injuries healed during this, you may absolutely have them reopen upon your arrival thread, acid damage, bludgeoning damage, piercing damage, etc. you also might all feel a bit feverish and unwell until you hit the medbay pods or get some healing via your returning abilities back on the eudora. play with this as you like.
in any case: you have slayed the false hydra, and the earth will absorb it, cleanse it, and will once again become whole. in time, perhaps this place might become something better than this.
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no subject
kosmo is moving, blipping, phasing around the room. keith is so thankful for him, as always. saving them all from near death, getting them back together. he moves closer to shoma, before they blip away with charles in tow. it's time to get tf out of here.
the earth is moving, mother earth has had enough of this shit. she's hurt. he feels terribly for her... the earth feels. she speaks. why does that sound so familiar... hm.
as they rise he leans against kosmo, on the otherside of where shoma clings. eyes looking over to the other three. god they've been through it. good hand holding his acid burned, limp, arm and fuzzy eye looking upward. ]
no subject
you are all being taken upwards in a geyser of moldering earth and flesh. there's no more fighting to be done as the earth fills the plant, as it surges looking for an opening for purchase. you rise up from the hole, can vaguely see the shapes of the slaughterhouse room before it all. no one is here but the beast's lurid corpse now being absorbed by the earth itself. rushing. rushing. rushing.
you're about to hit the concrete door, about to be crushed by thousands of pounds of force—
and then there's the sensation of being plucked out of space and thrown into soft grass. kosmo hunches on the ground because he's absolutely exhausted as you all are blipped one last time out onto the dry grasses, drooling and panting hard. he still leans in to keep shoma steady, doesn't dare shake him off. io just keeps hold of temenos and takes the brunt of the landing, though his metal leg does finally splinter further with the weight of having to be landed upon, he buckles off kilter a little. charles and keith, tanks that they are, but battered, bruised, beaten up, bleeding - spat out from the blip to take their own crash landing.
it's imperfect. but it's a save. it's a... success... maybe. (maybe not.)
the plant behind you creaks with the sound of the earth pressing against the stone, pushing outwards in its own tomb of concrete. it groans, moans (with a thousand voices.)
the ship in the distance glows with its soft standby mode.
the town is silent. truly silent. ]
no subject
that's really all he's got. just sort of a pathetic noise when they hit the ground or... he hits into io... thanks for taking the brunt of that one sweet io you are truly a lifesaver today. io and keith are the mvps. temenos grunts in pain at the impact, rattling the gory remains of his thigh, and very nearly passes out again.
he blinks open his eyes after a long moment with them closed to recalibrate himself, and once it feels like he's not going to pass back out again, sweeps a look out across the others, exhaling slowly through his teeth. at kosmo who is also a blipping lifesaver.... telepaths to him that he is a good boy
jesus fantasy christ. temenos pats io's chest with one weak hand. thanks man. ]
That...doesn't sound promising. [ all the grumbling and groaning ]
no subject
[hits the grass... he just lies there for a moment. this bone is probably still sticking out of him and this crash landing is not helping with it. ow. anyway, after a moment, he pushes himself up with his good hand and checks that his weapons are still on him and sheathed.]
... Well, we all up to run for the ship? This would be a terrible time for someone to accidentally turn me into a sheep again.
[he will help whoever needs it because out of this group it might only be him, keith, and kosmo who are (... relatively...) unimpeded? TEMENOS AND IO'S LEGS. SHOMA'S [GESTURES]]
no subject
but. they're alive? they're alive, and he's taking a few deep breaths to try and prepare himself for at least getting back to the ship. ]
Not the sheep. [ it's a protesting whine because in spite of everything he'd be so pissed. ] We're sure we did it...?
[ yeah he's with temenos on this one, the grumbling and groaning sounds bad. ]
no subject
Good riddance... [ goodbye cursed meat prison. even if the thousands of voices are hateful. he's just going to choose to ignore that. let mother earth do her thing. ]
I think she'll take care of the rest. Let's get the hell out of here.
[ getting to his feet, slowly, but surely. at least he can still walk, even with the acid damage. he looks to io, who's leg just fucking splinters, tem who is whole ass missing a leg, and shoma who is just doing bad:tm: all around. kosmo is 100000% carrying the baby back to the ship. charles and himself really are doing the best, some how??? charles your bone... ]
— MISSION COMPLETE (bidding farewell to a terminal patient)
Gut feeling.
[ a breath. ]
Come on... [ a very tired, crooked smile. ] Everyone's waiting.
[ the penal colony located on the tiny planet of khalka is... empty now, a town of ghosts united by the puppeteering appendages of the hydra. each one sung a song to soothe the shaking meat, each person as much of a prisoner of the town as they are a prisoner of their own minds, caged in bliss. with one last reading sweep of the area as the shuttle primes for take-off, those still conscious enough can see... the strange energy signature is gone, and the storm is quickly receding. it's time to get the hell out of dodge.
you leave on your shuttle, and it lifts off with a cloud of black motes. as it travels through the atmosphere, if you're conscious, you can see them burning up, burning, cleansing fire, burning... up up and away.
in any case: you have slayed the false hydra, and the earth will absorb it, cleanse it, and will once again become whole. in time, perhaps this place might become something better than this.
mission success. ]